One of the most ambitious and unique inmate skills training efforts underway is DPSCS' attempt to deconstruct the Maryland House of Correction, which Governor O'Malley and Secretary Gary Maynard closed in 2007 following a spate of deadly violence.

DPSCS wants to take the 1879 prison down piece by piece using specially-trained inmates, which will potentially save millions over demolition, as well as allow for the reuse of tons of usable materials.

This summer, DPSCS is about to begin one of the most meaningful restorative justice inmate projects ever brought behind prison walls. At three MD prisons, incarcerated veterans and other inmates will begin training service dogs for wounded U.S. veterans coming home from Iraq and Afghanistan.

The partnership with America's VetDogs will place puppies in Maryland Correctional Institution-Hagerstown, Eastern Correctional Institution in Westover, and Western Correctional Institution in Cumberland.

Inmates will live with the puppies in their housing units, and train them to perform all kinds of special duties. America's VetDogs group will then finish the training and send the dogs home with veterans who have brain injuries, post traumatic stress disorder, amputations, and many other physical and psychological disorders.

As soon as the front page headline hit, DPSCS sprang into action. Baltimore City was on the brink of keeping eight neighborhood pools closed all summer because the facilities needed so much work. Enter Public Safety Works: DPSCS contacted the City and offered inmate labor for a truly meaningful restorative justice project.

Beginning on June 5, just 18 days before the pools were to open for the summer, inmates began painting and cleaning up the pool grounds.

The low-security inmate crews from Baltimore City pre-release centers were soon to be hailed as a critical partner in allowing the kids to enjoy some respite from what has turned out to be a brutally hot summer.

But before that happens, hundreds of people want to see the prison for the last, and for many, the first, time. A DPSCS employee tour weekend in July brought out more than 550 current and former employees, including many who worked at The House. And a public tour August 4 and 5 is likely to draw a huge crowd as well.

Since closing the House of Correction, DPSCS has seen serious assaults on staff and inmates and overall contraband plummet system-wide. Gang management and violence reduction efforts have paid off considerably, and prisons throughout the system are better-staffed. In short, the stunning stealth closure of the old maximum-security prison has turned out to a tremendous boost to public safety throughout the prison system, which translates into fewer victims inside and outside the razor wire.

Secretary Gary Maynard continues to be committed to restorative justice; letting inmates pay society back in truly meaningful ways. And having incarcerated veterans helping wounded U.S. servicepeople...well that's about as meaningful as it gets.

Inmates and staff at the three prisons have already taken the idea to heart and run with it, securing outside donations of veterinary care and raising money through inmate walk-a-thons, among many other things. Inmates have adorned their housing units with special veteran-honoring artwork and landscaping.

At two media-attended kickoff events in Hagerstown and Westover, veterans who were wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan and since have been given puppies by America's VetDogs brought their service dogs to thank DPSCS and its inmates for the partnership.

DPSCS had initially offered to use the inmates for a total overhaul of the pools. But due to time constraints, the City ended up hiring a contractor to paint and caulk. Inmates still had their hands full with fence scraping and painting and general cleanup of the properties. At one point, DPSCS sent an unprecedented 22 inmates out at a time to make sure the repairs got done by June 23rd.

Net result: the pools opened on time, and DPSCS won over more officials thanks to the work ethic of inmates through the innovative Public Safety Works initiative.